The present invention relates to the field of locks. Specifically it relates to card-activated locks.
It has become a common practice in the recreational and fitness fields for proprietors of recreational and fitness establishments to provide lockers for storage of personal items during the time that the patron is at the establishment. Security of such personal possessions is therefore a large concern. Many such establishments provide lockers capable of being locked by the use of a user-provided padlock or combination lock. More recently, clubs began providing members or visitors with locks for use at the club. This has led to the requirement for the club to keep track of combinations for locks, to track keys for locks, to look up combinations for patrons who have lost combinations, to replace lost keys, and the like. Keys are easily lost, and combinations easily forgotten.
Cards carried by members or issued to a guest at a hotel, a club, or an athletic facility have been used previously to activate a locking mechanism. Previous lock designs have included magnetically operated devices for scanning and reading a punch card. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,348 (Eisermann et al.) discloses a lock with a magnetic assembly that introduces a magnetic pin into a hole in a card in order to allow free movement of a bolt. Such magnetic devices are subject to failure and operational difficulties. The present invention uses no magnetic means for operation, but rather relies on purely mechanical actuation to allow movement of a bolt into a fully locked position.